What We do for Love

“Ahhhh,” I sighed, as I closed my eyes, and kicked back in the soft, green grass. It was a beautiful summer day; the sky was clear, it wasn’t too hot, and I didn’t have anything better to do than to relax in my backyard, and ignore the rest of the world around me. As I reveled in the comfortable warmth of the sun, I began absentmindedly running my fingers through the grass. That’s when I noticed something...odd.

Although the air around me was warm, the grass in my fingers was freezing cold. And wet. In fact, the more I touched it, the less it felt like grass. I opened my eyes, and sat up to see what was going on. To my surprise I wasn’t sitting on grass at all; it was a large cumulus cloud. Well that’s certainly different, I thought, as I continued to run my fingers through my fluffy, white cushion. Wait a second, how am I sitting on a cloud? Clouds are made up of water vapor. Shouldn’t I just-

I didn’t get a chance to finish my thought; no sooner had I realized the absurdity of my new seating arrangement, then I fell right through it, into the open sky below me.

It seemed impossible; one minute I had been undoubtedly lounging in my backyard, and the next I was in the middle of the sky, flapping my arms helplessly as I hurtled towards the ground miles below. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was watch as the hillside under me grew closer and closer with each agonizing second. Suddenly, I felt something grab hold of me; I looked down and saw what looked like an arm, covered in a coat of soft gray hair, wrapped tightly around my chest. What’s more, I noticed that I was no longer falling.

“Don’t worry I’ve got you,” came a cheerful, feminine voice close to my ear.

I looked back up and nearly screamed in surprise; the thing that had somehow saved my life was a small, horse-like creature with...wings? I looked into it’s eyes; it had strange eyes; they were bright gold, and one was looking right at me, while the other was looking up at the sky. I knew I should have been frightened by the flying, talking, crosseyed horse, but something about the soft smile that she gave me put me at ease, and told me that everything would be fine.

“Oh hey look at that,” she said, “a giant blueberry muffin.”

My jaw dropped when I saw it; sure enough, just a few feet below us, was a muffin the size of a mountain growing up from the ground.

“I’m gonna set you down now,” she said.

Before I could protest, she released her grip from around me, and I was falling again. Luckily the muffin provided me with a soft cushion, saving me from what would have certainly been my doom. I leaned back on the ridiculously large pastry, and started laughing uncontrollably, thankful to be alive.

“Look out, muffin, I’m going to eat you,” the flying horse thing said, opening her mouth wider, and wider, and wider. Before I knew it, her head, and mouth had grown large enough to devour the giant baked good in one bite. Then she dove at me, enveloping the muffin, and me with it, in darkness.

“Noooooo...

...

“...oooooooooooooo!” I woke up in a sweat, screaming, and flailing about, tangled up in the sheets of my bed. It was just a dream, I thought as my bedroom began to swim back into view. I clutched at my racing heart, as my mind continued to process the fact that I wasn’t sitting on a muffin, about to be eaten by a giant pony mouth, but was actually sitting in my bed, in my room, in my house. Well not my house, but the house of the pony who I considered to be my closest friend in all of Equestria.

A soft knock at my door finally brought me back to reality.

“Are you ok in there, Sam,” came a tiny, sweet, and obviously concerned voice from the other side of my bedroom door.

“Yeah," I said with a yawn, "everything's fine, Dinky."

The door inched open, and a little unicorn filly poked her golden maned head through the crack, giving me a worried look.

"Sorry, I was just checking to make sure," she said, as the rest of her body squeezed into my room.

I smiled reassuringly at the little pony, as I freed myself from my blankets, and climbed out of bed. Dinky quickly returned the smile, and sat on her haunches, extending her forelegs in a similar way that a human child would hold out it's arms when it wanted to be held. All I could do was laugh, as I reached down, and pulled her close to my chest. It was hard to believe that this was the same filly who, back when I first moved in, would dart behind a couch to hide from the “weird monster” whenever I entered the room. But stranger things do happen, and over time the two of us had grown close, and were now the best of friends.

“See, kiddo,” I said, giving her a big hug, “I’m fine; I was just having a weird dream, that’s all.”

I walked her over to the window, wiped away a layer of condensation that had built up on the glass, and leaned in close so we could both look out; the ground was covered in a thick layer of fresh, white snow. My eyes turned to the sky, and watched as the pegasi above pushed the clouds around, revealing the dimly lit, morning sky underneath.

“Looks like we got a present from Cloudsdale last night,” I told Dinky. “I think there might even be enough for us to build a snowpony when you get home from school. Would you like that?”

Dinky smiled, as she wrapped her forelegs as far around me as they would reach.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I chuckled. “Come on, let’s go downstairs and grab some breakfast; I bet your mom got up early and made us some blueberry muffins.”

With the smiling little filly still in my arms, I exited my room, and made my way downstairs, where, sure enough, the familiar aroma of baked goods filled the entire first floor of the house.

“Good morning, you two,” Derpy said, giving us both a huge, bubbly smile, as we entered the kitchen.

“Good morning, mama,” Dinky said cheerfully.

“Morning, Derpy,” I said, setting Dinky on her little stool at the table, before taking a seat on my own, slightly larger stool.

The blonde pegasus mare trotted over to the table, a small white plate balanced on her head, and a pink one in her teeth, both topped with a freshly baked blueberry muffin. The pink one she placed in front of her daughter, who thanked her by giving her a big kiss on the cheek, and the white one, she slid onto the table in front of me.

“Thanks, Derpy,” I said, taking my muffin, cutting it in half, and spreading a nice helping of butter on the steaming insides, “they look, and smell, amazing, as usual. And please, don’t give me that look,” I added, when I saw the smile on Derpy’s face change to a look of annoyance, “You know I prefer my muffin’s this way.”

“But you don’t need to put butter on muffins,” she said, rolling her eyes at me, as she trotted over to the sink and started washing the dirty dishes, muttering just loud enough for me to hear, “ruining perfectly good blueberry muffins with butter; I’ll never understand humans.”

I just chuckled as I took a bite of my muffin; every morning since I had moved in, we would eat muffins for breakfast, and each time Derpy would get upset, saying I was “ruining” the baked goods that she had worked so hard to make for me because I insisted on putting butter on them. It was never anything serious, at least, it wasn’t anymore; we just liked to tease each other like that. Plus, I figured if she really hated the way I ate my muffin’s, then she wouldn’t keep putting the butter dish in front of me, day after day.

To be honest, I didn’t think that Derpy had a single mean bone in her body. Ever since I arrived in Ponyville, she had been nothing but kind to me. While most of the ponies would run and hide in their homes whenever I walked around town, Derpy was always right by my side, talking happily about this or that. Not only that, but since I had no place to live, she had gone out of her way to let me move into the extra room in her house for as long as I was here. She even got me a job with the Ponyville Postal Service (once everypony in town was used to my being here, and were no longer afraid of me of course) so I could earn money to pay for clothes that I had to have custom made by the town's seamstress (a unicorn mare named Rarity), and (even though Derpy said that I didn’t need to) so I could pay rent to Derpy for letting me stay with her. And she wasn’t just kind to me; everypony she met, whether she knew them, or not, she would greet with a smile, and kind words of hello. Sure some of those ponies would tease her behind her back about her eyes, or her clumsiness (an act which I had unfortunately witnessed a few times as we did our shopping in town), but Derpy never let it get to her; she was a stronger mare than that.

To top it all off, Derpy was a fantastic mother to Dinky; despite the fact that she was busy with her job delivering the mail, and her occasional help with Ponyville’s Weather Patrol, Derpy always made sure that she had time to spend with her daughter. From making her breakfast in the morning, to tucking her in and reading her to sleep at night, Derpy was always there for Dinky. I could only imagine that my mother had been just like that before she died.

After breakfast, Dinky ran upstairs to start getting ready for school, and I got up to relieve Derpy of her dish washing duties. She told me that I didn’t need to (like she did every morning), but I insisted (like I did every morning); it just didn’t feel right having her do everything around the house when I was perfectly capable of helping out every now and again.

While I took to washing what was left of the dirty dishes, I noticed Derpy just standing there, watching me work.

“Everything alright, Derpy?” I asked, with a bit of a laugh.

“Yup, everything’s A-Ok,” she said, looking up at me with only one of her eyes (the other one was looking down at the floor). Then she did something I wasn’t expecting; as I was placing a clean plate on the drying rack, Derpy got up on her hind legs, so that we were almost the same height, and wrapped her forelegs tightly around me.

“Wha… What’s this for?”

“You’re too good to us,” she said, a hint of pink flooding her gray cheeks. “You do so much around here - cooking, cleaning, helping Dinky with her homework - even though you don’t need to; I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate everything.” Then she buried her face next to mine, and nuzzled my cheek. “I lo-”

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!

Seven sharp peels from the Ponyville belltower cut Derpy off.

“Guess it’s almost time for work,” she said, “you better go get ready; I’m sure Mr. Speedy Delivery will be upset if you show up to work in your pjs, and with a messy mane.”

I just looked at Derpy, a look of curiosity on my face.

“Were you just about to say something else just now?”

She just winked, and stuck her tongue out teasingly.

“Don’t worry about that; it can wait until later.” In one swift move, she released her grip, and spun around on her hind legs so she was facing the counter. Then she gave me a swift flick of her tail. “Now move your rump, mister, or we’re going to be late.”

“But what about-”

“Go; I can handle the dishes. I know I might be a bit clumsy, and I know that you like to help out around here, but I’m fully capable of taking care of dirty plates; I did it for years before you fell out of the sky.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but quickly shut it again, deciding that I was better off not arguing, so I turned, and went back upstairs to change.

…

Twenty minutes later, I was dressed in my mail carrier’s uniform (which consisted of dark blue, custom made shirt, pants, cap, mittens, a heavy winter coat, boots, and a scarf), following Derpy, and Dinky down the snow covered streets of Ponyville towards the schoolhouse. Other than the chilly winter air, it was a beautiful morning; in the amount of time it had taken us to eat breakfast, and get ready to go, the weather patrol had finished clearing the sky, allowing the morning sun to shine down on the snow below, reflecting the bright light throughout the entire town. Ponyville was starting to come alive with the hustle and bustle of ponies leaving the warmth of their homes on their ways to work, or taking their foals to school, or, in the case of a very pink, very curly maned mare, building surprisingly accurate snowponies outside of the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner.

I felt a smile spread across my face as the crowd of ponies slowly grew around us; the town - no, this world - just had that effect on me. Before I came here I wasn’t exactly living the ideal life; married, then divorced, then moving in with my older brother because I had no place else to go, and working a dead end, part time job, all before I was thirty. Not really what I had planned for myself when I was growing up. But Equestria had given me a fresh start; a second chance to do something good with my life, and I wasn’t going to waste it. Especially when I had two ponies relying on me to not mess things up.

When we got to Ponyville Schoolhouse, Derpy and I said our goodbyes to Dinky, and watched her as she went to join the other foals on the playground to get in a little early morning fun, before they had to spend the rest of the morning in class.

“Kids have it so easy,” I said, as Derpy and I continued trudging our way to the post office, “they get to spend their whole day learning in a warm classroom, while we go off to work in the snow.”

“You can always go join them,” Derpy laughed, “I’m sure Cheerilee would love to have you as a student.”

“No thanks, I’m good. I finished school long ago, and I’m not all that eager to go back. I mean, yeah, I had lot of fun back in college, but… Derpy?” She wasn’t there. I looked back and saw her sitting on her haunches a few feet behind, a worried look on her face.

“Uh oh,” she said, as she got up, and started to pace back and forth. “Oh nonononoooooooffff!” In the midst of her pacing, Derpy stepped on a small patch of ice, and slid into the side of the building that she had been walking towards, hitting it so hard that a mass of snow was knocked loose from the roof, and fell in a pile on top of the poor, clumsy mare.

“Derpy, are you ok,” I shouted, as I ran over to dig her out. But before I could shove my hand into the deep snow, Derpy flew out and shook as much of the white, wet powder from her mane as she could.

“No, I’m not ok,” she said when she was firmly back on the ground, “I just remembered that the Weather Patrol’s assisting with a huge snowstorm in Trottingham this weekend, and I volunteered to help them take some clouds over, and bring the empty ones back when it’s done.”

“Oh. Do you know how long the storm’s supposed to last?”

“A day, maybe two. It’s quite the flight from Ponyville to Trottingham, so I probably won’t be back until Monday, so-”

“So you’ll need me to look after Dinky, and take care of things around the house while you’re gone.”

She nodded her head, and gave me an understanding smile.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I already promised Rainbow Dash that I’d go.”

"I think we'll be-"

"I suppose I could stop by her house and tell her I can't make it."

"Derpy, really, we'll be fi-"

"Don't you worry, Sam, I'm not going-"

I placed a finger against Derpy's muzzle, and she fell silent.

"Derpy,” I said, as I looked her in the eyes (well, one of them anyway), and gave her a reassuring smile, “everything will be fine; this isn’t the first time you’ve had to leave us home alone for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Trust me; Dinky and I will be fine.”

Derpy’s worried look faded into a sheepish smile, and quickly changed back again when the sound of the Ponyville clocktower rang out the half hour.

“Uh-oh, we’re gonna be late.” Derpy tried to run forward, but she wound up slipping on the same small patch of ice instead, and landed face first in the snow in front of her. I quickly helped her up, and we both laughed, as we continued our way towards Ponyville post office.

…

It was a little after two in the afternoon when I returned home from work, changed out of my uniform into more casual clothes (my old Earth jeans, a t-shirt, and sweater), and put a few logs in the woodstove for a fire so the house would be nice and warm when Derpy and Dinky got back. It was still going to be another half an hour or so before they returned, so I decided to plop down on the couch, and kick back for a bit while I waited. That was pretty much how every day was for me; since I couldn't fly like a pegasus, and lacked the physical strength and speed of an Earth pony, I was only allowed to deliver letters and small packages to the citizens of Ponyville, leaving the larger items for an Earth pony stallion to take care of, while Cloudsdale deliveries had to be made by Derpy and the the other pegasi. Because of this, I had a much simpler mail route than any of the delivery ponies, and I always ended up finishing before anypony else. At first I thought that the other employee’s might have hated me or something for not working as hard as they did (and honestly I wouldn’t have blamed them), but the ponies here were much kinder than any of the coworkers that I’d had back on Earth. Plus, the amount of effort that I put in each day was roughly equivalent to theirs, so it wasn’t like I wasn’t pulling my own weight. Still, delivering the mail was hard work, but I didn't mind; I was just happy I could do something to contribute to the well being of the town.

As I lay there on the couch, listening to the soft ticking of the old clock on the mantelpiece, I began to feel myself starting to drift to sleep, until a sudden loud knocking at the front door roused me from my peace. Slowly, I got up off the couch with a yawn, walked to the door, and opened it to see who had woken me.

“Package for Sam Anderson,” Derpy said, taking me by surprise as I opened the door.

“Package?” I asked, “but I didn’t order anythi- Ooof.”

Something soft, and cold, hit me square in the face.

“Haha, I got you,” Derpy giggled in triumph, as she watched me wipe away the rest of the snowball that she had thrown at me.

I stared at the pile of slush in my hand, watching as it melted through my fingers, and dripped onto the floor. A smile started creeping across my face, and I began to remold the leftover snow into a much smaller ball, and threw it at the jubilant mare. I missed.

“Haha, can’t get me,” she said, as she ran off into the front yard. I went to chase her, then ran back into the house when I realized that I had stepped into the snow in my bare feet.

After quickly changing into more winter appropriate clothing, I rushed outside, scooped up a handful of snow, and started running around, looking everywhere for Derpy. But she was nowhere to be found.

“Up here, Sam.”

I looked up and caught a glimpse of Derpy hovering in the air above me, a pile of loose snow clutched in her hooves. Before I could jump out of the way, she let it fall, covering me with a fine layer of the white stuff. Derpy laughed uncontrollably, as she watched me shake the snow off of my head.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she said, as she landed on the ground in front of me. “Here, let me help you with that.”

Derpy took a step towards me, and for the third time that day, hit a hidden patch of ice, and slid, crashing into the nearest solid object to her. Me. I tried my best to catch Derpy, but it was no use; the minute she hit me, the two of us collapsed under our collective weight, and fell to the ground. I was so thankful in that moment for the snowfall that we had gotten the night before, because without it, the landing would have been a lot more painful.

“Are you ok,” I asked, my arms still wrapped securely around Derpy.

The mare looked down at me, and for a moment I thought she was going to say something, but she just stared at me, our faces just inches apart. Suddenly she leaned in close, and gave me a great big hug.

“Thanks for saving me,” she said, gently nuzzling her cheek against mine affectionately.

“Oh, uh, it was nothing. Really.”

Derpy pulled away a little so I could see her smiling; she had a cute smile.

While the two of us lay there, waiting for the other to make a move to get up, neither of us heard the sound of little hooves creeping up on us.

“Pony pile!”

Derpy, and I looked up just in time to see the little filly go into a full on gallop, then a jump, spreading all four legs out, as she landed square on Derpy’s back.

“Dinky,” Derpy giggled, as her daughter scooched up, and wrapped her hooves around her neck. “How was school today, muffin?”

“Good,” she said, “but I couldn’t wait to get out so I could play in the snow.” Dinky looked from her mother to me. “You said we’d build a snowpony, remember, Sam?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s true, I did say that,” I chuckled, “but it’ll be kinda hard to build a snowpony with you two lying on top of me.”

“Oops, sorry,” Derpy said with a sheepish giggle, as she got back on her hooves, making sure the little filly on her back didn’t fall off as she did.

When I was finally free, I got up, stretched, then lifted Dinky off her mother’s back, and set her back on the snowy ground.

“Alright, who’s ready to build a snowpony?”

...

That night, after dinner, and after I had put Dinky to bed, and read her a bedtime story (the one about the first Hearth’s Warming Eve), Derpy and I were in our usual places on the couch, relaxing by the fire, working on the Manehatten Times crossword. It was something that we did every night, even though neither of us were ever any good at it. I was just filling the answer for "author of 'Daring Do' series," when suddenly Derpy got up and smiled.

"Be right back," she said, before running into the kitchen.

I sat there silently wondering what it was that she was looking for, when I heard the sound of breaking glass come from the other room.

"I'm ok," she called, "I just dropped a wine glass."

Wine glass?
A few minutes later, Derpy came fluttering in wearing the happiest smile I'd ever seen, with one hoof wrapped around a couple of crystal wine glasses, and the other holding an open bottle of red wine.

"What's this for?" I asked with a chuckle, as Derpy set down on the floor, and started pouring the wine.

"I know red is your favorite,” she said, “so I stopped by Berry Punch's on my route today to pick up a bottle so we could celebrate."

I gave Derpy a confused look.

"Celebrate what?"

"What do you mean " celebrate what?" This is the one and a half year anniversary of your arrival to Equestria."

A year and a half, I thought, as I took the glass of wine that was passed to me, has it really been that long? It seemed like just yesterday that (as Celestia explained it) our universes momentarily collided exactly where I had been sitting in my backyard, sending me plummeting towards Equestria from the sky, until I was caught mid-fall by Derpy, who had fortunately been flying by at the time. Well not so much caught, as crashed into, and hung on for dear life as Derpy glided us into a less than pleasant landing.

"You mean a year and a half since you saved my life," I corrected her.

Derpy blushed, and took a big gulp of her wine.

"It was nothing,” she said. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”

"I'm not just talking about that,” I said. “You took me in, helped me find work, and pretty much made me feel like I was right at home. That's more than anypony else did for me during those first days." I laughed, as the the memory of Mayor Mare trying to have me put in a cage, and dragged into the middle of the Everfree Forest along with all the other weird animals. That's what I had been to them; just a strange creature that wasn’t fit to live amongst the ponies. But now, nopony thought twice about me living here. Sure there were still a few ponies that gave me odd looks when I walked down the street, and I was often the subject of stares, and whispered conversations of the many ponies that passed through town, but other than that, I had become just another resident of Ponyville. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks. For everything."

Derpy smiled sheepishly, as she downed the rest of her wine, and poured herself another glass. Not wanting to be left behind, I took a nice long sip from my own glass. Like everything else in Equestria, the wine tasted sweet; much sweeter than anything back on Earth. In fact, if I hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn I was drinking grape juice. But I did know better than that; it was still wine, and it still contained about as much alcohol as a bottle Merlot from home (sometimes even more if it was one from Berry Punch’s private collection).

The two of us spent the next hour drinking our wine, and laughing, as we told each other stories about our lives from before I dropped into Equestria. Derpy always liked hearing about my old life, especially the stories from when I was a little kid. I would tell her about the times when my friends and I would hunt for monsters in the woods behind my house, or the time when my brother tricked me into thinking that he had turned into a vampire, and chased me around the house, pretending to try and suck my blood. I’d probably told her these stories hundreds of times since I arrived in Ponyville, but each time she would listen intently, and laugh at the funny parts. In turn, Derpy would tell me stories of her life, to which I paid just as much attention. The only thing that neither of us talked about were our past relationships. I'd made the mistake of asking Derpy once about Dinky's father, but the only thing that she would say was that the best thing he had ever done for Derpy was help to make Dinky. After that, we agreed to never ask each other about the other's exes.

When the wine had finally run out, Derpy rested her head on my lap, while I absentmindedly scratched behind her ear, the two of us wordlessly watching the embers in the fireplace die.

“Hey, Sam,” Derpy said, breaking the silence with an exaggerated, and slightly slurred whisper, “can I tell you a secret?”

“Tell away,” I said with a chuckle, still scratching her behind the ear, until she sat up to look my in the eyes.

Derpy’s cheeks were flushed a deep red (probably from the alcohol, I thought), and she looked at me with a mix of drunken giddiness, and a hint of timidity that I’d rarely seen from such an outgoing mare.

“I, uh, I think I l-l-like you.”

Her eyes shut tight as she waited for me to react.

“I like you too, Derpy,” I said, giving her a comforting pat on the head. “I’ve lived in two worlds, and I can honestly say that you’re the best friend I’d ever had.”

That clearly wasn’t the answer she was looking for, because she frowned at me, as she flopped over backwards on the couch.

“That’s not what I mean,” she groaned. Suddenly, she climbed back up, wobbling on her hooves, and looked at me with determination in her eyes. Then she leaned in close, and pressed her lips firmly against mine.

My mind began to spin. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the wine, or because of the fact that I was suddenly kissing a pony.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a moment,” I said, as I pulled away from Derpy, “what are you doing?”

Derpy gave me a surprised look, followed by a fit of laughter.

“I was kissing you, silly,” she said, as she leaned in for another kiss.

“I know...but why were you kissing me?”

The humor began to fade from Derpy’s face.

“Because…because I like - no - because I love you.”

I began to feel a lump growing in my throat.

“Love...me?” I choked out.

The smile returned to Derpy’s face when she saw that I was finally catching on. She then began to inch closer to me. At first I thought it was just the wine talking; that if this was just any other night, she wouldn’t be acting like this. But there was something in her eyes, a sense of longing, that made me believe that she was being sincere.

“Look, Derpy, I-”

“I know I’m not as pretty as some of the other mares in town, and my eyes are funny, and I can be a little clumsy sometimes, but you’ve always so sweet to me. And to Dinky too.”

“Listen, Derpy, I-”

“You know, you’re almost like a second father to her. Of course when we’re married, then you really will be her father. And-”

“Derpy, please.” I placed a finger over her mouth so I could could say my piece. “Derpy, I had no idea that you felt that way about me. Honestly. But,” I could feel something in my heart break, as Derpy’s smile began to turn into a frown, “but we can’t do this.”

Derpy looked at me, confused.

“What do you mean “can’t do this”?”

I was beginning to wish that I hadn’t drunk so much; the heat from the wine was overwhelming, and making it harder to think clearly.

“I mean, we can’t kiss. Or date. Or get married, or any of that stuff.”

“I-I d-d-don’t-”

“Look, you’re really nice, and like I said before, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, but I just can’t think of doing any of that stuff with you.”

“Why,” she said, tears beginning to stream down her eyes, “why can’t we be together?”

“Because.” For some reason I found that I could barely get the words out. “Because you’re a pony. And humans and ponies aren’t supposed to be together. Not like that.”

Derpy looked at me, completely devastated. I knew I shouldn't have said any more, but the wine had gone straight to my head, and I just couldn't stop myself.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, if you were a human then I would totally date you, but-"

Whack!

I had no idea that a wing-slap to the face could hurt so much, but it did. Derpy just stared at me through tear filled eyes, and didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to; I knew that I had hurt her.

Doing everything she could to avoid my gaze, Derpy climbed off the couch, and began making her way towards the stairs. At one point she stumbled in her drunken daze, and I rushed to help her, but she just pulled away from me, and rushed away, bouncing off the walls, as she retreated upstairs, and locked herself in her bedroom.